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yOLOfE L, JCFMBEB lh ITEWBEBBY, SOUTH CABOLItfA* TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 17, 1912. TWIC1 A WX1X, |UI A Y1AJL
I?
"Stop This Dai
Fooling Al
SENATOR ON ACTION
OF ELECTION PROBERS
? I T nr ? T?r V4TF*nrr TTMT WAS!
"ALULAI/ X i.tiii/Aujuu ii.uj| ?i -??.
, BEEN LOST,'* HE SATS.
*White Men Will Not Tolerate Impudent
Tinkering With Their
* Sights," m Writes.
I
Charleston, Sept. 16.?The News and
Courier, this morning carries the following
story:
Expressing an earnest desire of im?
mediate action in the matter of invpctipmi-inp'
the allesed frauds and ir
# ? ' "w *
regularities of the recent primary held
* in South Carolina, and condemning
what he deems the arbitrary action of
Chairman W. F. Stevenson, of the investigating
committee, appointed by
the State Democratic executive committee,
the Hon. J. D. Bivens, of Dor*
Chester, a member of what has been
termed the Blease faction of the investigating
committee, gave out for publication
last night a letter from Senator
B. ft. Tillman to the Hon. John
Gary Evans, chairman of the State
Democratic executive committee, in
.which Senator Tillman, marvelling at
T ^
the forbearance and patience displayed
by the Bleaseites at the delay 111
declaring the election or taking action
of some kind, urges the State
chairman to proceed with 'dispatch,
lest the temper of the people of South
Carolina be tried beyond endurance,
snd Jest the method now being em 1
p1oyed send the Democratic party in
this State to "the demnition bowwows."
s
Urges Speedy Action.
f Mr. Bivens was in the city last night,
and in an interview with a reporter
for the News and Courier declared
that as a member of the investigating 1
committee and as a citizen of the
State, he desired a thorough investigation
into the fraud charges, that the
purity of elections in. this State may 1
be*preserved, but that the manner of
* procedure as outlined by Chairman
^ Stevenson was physically impracticable
and could not be accomplished
I- within the time intervening before
| the general election in November.
Mr IJhrens's Plan.
"My plan," said Mr Bivens, "was to
have the committee as a whole sit as
a court; go to Spartanburg or Anderson,
or wherever there was the
charges of greatest fraud, employ a
stenoaranher, take testimony and affi
i davits and proceed with the work.
I Meanwhile the work in other counties (
misrht be-going on and that could be
w ta?en up later. It strikes me as utterly
rrross'ble take up the club rolls :
roM lists of every precinct in the
F"*4-*. and as for having th^ni pub- 1
l^hed in the newspapers, that seems
t~. ?o to be out of the question. In
CV'^leston, I believe, your city rolls
r^nnirel more than eight
^?r?<7':*; in The News and Courier. The
election is to be held in a
^rtrle mor* than six weeks?there's
J" ro ponir.g that?and the work as
outlined by Mr Stevenson could
>
scarcely be sotten under way well
by that time."
"We can't hold our meeting in Columbia
tomorrow," continued Mr. Bivpr?<2
"hPMiKP thpre will nor hp a auo
rum. I have a letter from Mr. W. B.
V>~l?cn, Jr., cf Rock Hill, to the effect
that he would be glad to proceed at
one** but that he will nof .attend a
L rr?eti~g except at the call of the chair|
iman."
Plan of Resolution.
I Mr Bivens stated last night that as
' a member of the sub-committee apro'nted
by Chairman Stevenson to in
_ ves*igate the fraud charges in the
k eartprn section of the State he is perfectly
willing to proceed as best he
mk hn, but that he regards the scheme
W ?<; impracticable. He, with Messrs
w?!son and Jeffries, was appointed
- V 1
IT~"
r* ?
vdling And
mut" ?Tillman
the State . This action was taken at
the meeting of a part of the committee,
Messrs Stevenson, Butler and Wilson,
in Charlotte on Monday of last week.
Mr. Bivens regards this step as an arbitrary
act on the part of the chairman,
for, as he interprets it, the Manning
resolution creating the commit
tee contemplates action by the committee
as a whole.
General Demand for Action.
As Mr Eivens views the situation
there is a general demand for spee
action, and bearing out this opinion he
cites the letter from Sn. Tillman to
Chairman Evans, a copy of which,,
was mailed to him at Columbia, Sep
tember 13, by Senator Tillman. Interest
attaches to a number of statements
made by Senator Tillman in reference
to what he characterizes as the "dawdling
and fooling about" of the committee,
which he says will forever
damn the committee in the estimation
of all decent people. He also declares
that "white men will not tolerate an;
such impudefit tinkering with the peo
pie's rights," and that the"Bleasites
have shown remarkable self-control."
Senaton Tillman's Letter.
The letter written by Senator Tillman
to the Hon. John Gary Evans,
chairman of the State Democratic
committee, is as follows:
Trenton, -S. C., September 12,1912.
The Hon John Gary Evans, Spartanburg,
S. C. ?Dear John: I have
seen in the morning papers the protest
of the three Blease members
of the subcommittee appointed by the
State committee. It is a sensible, judicious,
patriotic utterance. If you
do not exert your influence to hurry
things up and stop this dawdling and
fooling about, the whole committee
will be forever damned in the estimation
of all decent people. What is
wbrse, the Democratic party will go
to the demnition bow-wows. White
men will not tolerate any such impudent
tinkering with their rights. We
had better have ten years of Blease
t-han tn have the nporo brought har?V
into our politics as the balance of
power between our white people. Unless
all signs fail, that is inevitable.
Neither will the people of this State
stand for counting Blease out without
justification. Already valuable time
has been lost, and the more delay bfore
declaring the result of the primary
the more angry the people be >r?,no
anH thp mnrp rpariv vr?to fr?r
an independent or for the devil before
they will tamely submit to have
their will nullified. It was all very
well for white people to cheat negroes
in 1876 and 1S78 and even into 1880,
but whit mn will not tolerate having
other white men cheat them. You are
responsible in the eyes of the people
a a. 1C orrvin rr r\ ^
LOr Luc uu&cixug mat 10 5^1115 uu uuw,
and every day you are losing friends
by it. There is absolutely no justification
for the dawdling and delay thai
has already ta*ken place. It seems to
be the intention of the subcommittee
to continue indefinitely. The Bleaseites
have shown remarkable self-control.
They are watching and the peo
pie are watching too. 1 have enough
faith in the people of South Carolina
to believe that, while it will be a bitter
dose to have Blease as governor,
they had rather have him one hundred
times than to have a Moses or a
man like him. If the entire committee
dc-es not meet with the Blease members
of the committee Monday and begin
to investigate where it is necessary,
I see no earthly power that can
prevent Blease from running independently
in November and sweeping the
State, for a great many .lones men do
not stomach cheating or -my such
high-handed proceedings as are going
on.
I do net like to have the appearance
of meddling with t'iin~s do not
concern me, but it is of vital importance
to me and to every patriotic
South Carolinian to save the primary.
But it is of more vital concern to save
the Democratic party, and as sure as
you are living the unity of the Democratic
party is very much in jeopardy
pVhr v.fiv; V^rv r^spe^urv,
* -i - - j
iSisrred) B. R. T'Umart. i
t i
| says no charge here
i to be Investigated
COUNTY CHAIRMAN DOMINICK ON
NEWBERRY ELECTION.
Replies to Letter of Sub-Chairmas
Park Wanting Newberry Primary
Probed.
The following correspondence be.
-r t-> r-??i. ?e r* c,,k i
I IWeen ?J. ?> .rclltv, Ui UI ccu n uuu, OUU- ;
chairman of the sub-committee inves- I
tigating the recent primary, and Fred.1
H. Dominick, county chairman tor;
Newberry county, self-explanatory: |
Mr. Pa a's Letter.
b.-.ueaiber 12, 19 TJ.
Dear Sir: As you have perhaps been
advised the subcommittee appointed
by the executive committee to investi-<
A - i. I
gate tne pnir.ai/ election 01 ai.-^usii
27 has been c so that Mr. T. B.I
Butler, Mr. j. M. Gree:* ami myself
are to take cfcnrge or the investigation
in the western c:cii )n of tae State, in
which your county is located.
Our subcommittee met yesterday in j
Spartanburg, and v/e wired you from!
that place as follows:
"Secure and hold all club rolls and
poll lists in your county. Appoint
subcommittees to make investigation.
Write me at Gree lwood, S. C., the!
names of subcommittees and what:
I
club rolls and poll lists are missing. I
Letter follows."
? You can see at once that it will be
entirely out of question for three men
to make anything like a thorough in- |
vestigation of twenty counties or
more in the State without the aid and
co-operation of the county executive
committees, and fcr that reason we (
asked you to have subcommittees ap-1
pointed to carry on the investigation
in your county.
1st. We want this subcommittee to
secure every club roll in the county
and compare the club rolls with the
poll lists and ascertain what persons, |
if any, have been allowed to vote.
whose names are not on the club
rolls.
Wo wont vnu tn rnmnarp thp
poll lists with each other and ascertain
what persons, if any, have voted
more than one time.
3rd. We'want you to ascertain what
persons have voted who are not qualified
to vote under the rules of the
party, to wit, minors, foreigners, non- .
residents, etc.,-obtaining affidavits as
to facts.
4th. We want you to show all other
irregularities or illegal practice in
your county.
For the purpose of this investigation
the chairman of the subcommittee
has authorized you to employ such
clerical aid as may be necessary to
carry on the work expeditiously, and
we hope you will appoint such committees
as will take immediate hold
">f the matter and make a thorough
investigation, without regard to the
^ndidates interested in the several
offices: In other wo^ls, it is our purpose
to make an investigation absolutely
non-partisan so far as we arp
concerned. The investigation is made
not for the benefit of individuals
which are aspiring to office, but to
satisfy the people of the State of
South Carolina- about the conduct of
the Democratic primary, and every
^a/3 An rrV?t t/\ Ka nrillinor f r\
guuu l/Clllun at w UC Hilling I.U |
assist in the work.
It is of the utmost importance to
everybody interested that the subcommittees
in each county take hold
of this matter and make the investigation,
and file their reports with me
just as early, as it is possible to do so.
The longer the report is delayed the
longer of cource will the investigation
be continued. We will be unable to
make any report to the executive
committee until we have se
- - I
cured tfte reports irom tnese several
county executive committees.
It is a work of course that none
of us desire to engage in, but one
which must be handled by someone,
and ought to be handled as expeditiously
as possible, and we hope your
subcommittee will take hold of it at
once and press it vigorously.
We will be glad for you to write the
undersigned at once outlining what
you have done and what your subcom-1
-pittee rroposes to do, so that we may;
- to ^ror'poj. it is important
*'v.t tlic?e c.ub roll:, be turned over to
?
your committee, and put where we can
lay our hands upon them if necessary,
and we call upon you as chairman to
secure these poll lists and club rolls
and advise at once what you have
done. If any party in possession of a
club roll refuses to turn it in we want
to be advised about it so that we can
proceed at once to bring suit, if necessary,
for the same.
Please advise your subcommittee of
the plan of action as herein o'iciinea,
and see that i: is cariied out, keeping
me advisel as to its progress.
Yjurs truly,
J. B. Parky
County Chairman Dominick's Reply.
Newberry, S. C., Sept. 16, 1912.
Mr. J. B. Park, Sub-Chairman of SubCommittee
of State Democratic Executive
Committee, Greenwood, S. C.
Dear Sir: Upon my return home I
am in receipt of your letter of September
12. asking: for certiin informa
tion in regard to the first primaryelection
in Newberry county.
In reply to same, I will say that I
am now serving my fourth term as
county chairman of Newberry county
and in my experience as euch, ahd
during my connection with politics,
I can not recall any fairer or squarer
Alnntinn airoii Vinl/J in fVlO /"?/"?11 n + V onH
C1CL11UU liUlU All CUV wuxavj, anu
I resent, for the county, the imputations
of any fraud or illegal practices
cast upon the election in this county.
\
As you and a great many other people
throughout the State who are conversant
with political affairs know, I
had especial reasons to see that evorvthinir
ir? thiR pnnntv wn<a rnnrhirtprt
strictly in accordance with the constitution
and rules of the Democratic
party. On account of my alienee
from the county for some time, the
management of the county campaign
was placed m the hands of the secre
tary of the county executive committee,
Mr. Frank R. Hunter, than whom
there is no fairer man in the county
of Newberry. The managers of election
in this county, notwithstanding
the fact that the rules provide they
shall be elected or appointed by the
executive committee, were left to each
executive committeeman. . Thi executive
committee in this county has a
small majority in favor of Governor
Blease, but, notwithstanding this fact,
all managers of election were appointed
upon the recommendation of the
executive committeemen from the re-\
spective clubs, whether they were
Jones or Blease men. I might say, by
way of parenthesis, that at one of the
largest clubs jn the county, which
was one of the strongest anti-Blease
clubs in tne county, Mr. JKugene s.
Blease was the executive committeeman
from that club, and the managers
at that club consisted of one Blease
man,. one Jones man and one man
whose political preference I do not
know, not knowing now how he voted,
these managers being appointed upon
Mr. Blease's recommendation.
After the votes were cast and the
executive committee was called ur>or
to tabulate the returns and announce
the result, every one of tile boxes in
fbe county was before the committee
intact, none of them having been opened
by the.secretary or by myself. A
tabulating committee was appointed,
consisting cf Mr. Joseph L. Keitt, refuted
campaign manager of Judge
Jones in this countv; Mr. T. 0. Stewart,
who openly announced at t'
time that he had been a candidate and
was not a partisan for either side, and
Mr. B. B. Leitzsey, a supporter of Gov.
Blease. The committee made the tabu'ation.
Two petitions were filed asking:
for a recount of all the votes of
the county, which were refused on
account of the absence of any specific
charses of any fraud or even irrpgr^ipritv.
Appeal was taken from
the action of the committee to th*
State com:-nittee, and the action of the
^ourtv corammee anu my xuung m
the matter were sustained without objpction,
and by a unanimous vote, you
being present at the time the appeal
was brought before the committee.
Tn order to have everything perfectly
straight, and beyond any peradventnrp
of doubt as to the fairness and
correctness of the election, I as county
chairman took the precaution before
we adjourned our meeting to call
the roll of all the clubs in the county
and ask if there were any objections
or cha'lerges to be madp to any box.
The rcll call proceeded, and out of
, ... Ji rJ\ ' *?>
the 45 clubs in the county there wa?
objection made as to only one box, in
which the votes of five or six?I do not
recall which?voters were questioned
by Mr.'Keitt. I called on him, or any
parties who had any charges to make
of any irregularities or any fraud, to
oiake those charges in the shape of'
affidavits, so that any one who was
slandered by such charges could have
proper redress. Mr. Keitt said he
had no formal charges to make, but
asked that the live or six votes he
mentioned be investigated, stating,
however, that he did not and would
not make any formal charges under affidavit.
I do not recall his exact language,
but this was the substance of
it. Mr. W. H. Harderuan, who watf
representing that box at the meeting,
secured the floor and made his explanation
of those votes, which was satisfactory
to the executive committee.
You say in the third paragraph of
your letter that you want us to "ascertain
what persons have voted who
are not qualified to vote under the
rules of the party, to wit, minors, foreigners,
non-residents, etc., obtaining
affidavits as to fafcts." I respectfully
call your attention to the fact that at
the last convention of the Democratic
party in this State, the convention
adopted amendmen-ts to the rules providing
for properly challenging die
qualified voters. There were tnre
challenges, I think, in Newberry county
out of 3,100 votes, which challenges,
under the rules, were to be heard before
the executive committee, but the
challangers did not appear and, consequently
vote* were counted along
with the other votes, as t^e rule required.
The only other irregularities, so far
as I can learn, these being only informally
brought to the attention of
some of the individual members of the
committee, were that two boxes in the
county did not contain the poll lists.
These two boxes, Longshore and]
Chappells, would not affect the result
in the ,slightest degree in the governor's
race, and my information is th4t
when it was found that these boxes
would affect the result of a certain
county race and elect a candidate who
voted for Gov. Blease, if thrown out,
no insistence was made by tne man
who first investigated the matter, and
the matter was not formally brought
before the committee. As I understand,
there -are no charges of fraud
in connection with these two boxes,
but if it is desired that the two boxes
be brought before your sub-commi?cee,
please advise me immediately.
In regard to your fourth request, as
to '"illegal practices in your county,"
JI will state that, so far as I am in
formed, and to my best knowledge ana j
belief, and, basing my statement upon
:ny confidence in the character, honesty
and integrity of the managers of
election of Newberry county, I believe
I cs.n say of my own knowledge, there
were no "illegal practices" in my'
county. I will stats for your further
information that I am informed that
at many of the important and largest
boxes in this county, a certain candidate,
to wit, Judge Ira B. JonGs, can?
1 ?
didate for governor, naa reyiescuuitives
who took a list of every person
voting, apd they had ample opportunity
to challenge any votes which
may have been illegal, and if these
challenges had been made they would j
have been properly considred by the'
county executive committee, and I believe
the only reason challenges were
not made was because there was not
the slightest foundation for them.
For these reasons I respectfully refuse
to comply with your request, believing
it useless to put this county
executive committee, or the State executive
committee, to the expense aud
trouble of having this information got
up for them, in the absence of any
specific charges of fraud or irregularity.
I a:ii unofficially informed that
t-Vw nawcnonorc of til'S CCUlltV Will TC
LUC lit ? O MU/|7\y? Q w ? ? .
fuse to publish the lists without pay J
lor it. The Jones p.iper of the county
has so stated in an editorial, and the
other paper will tak.'? Hie same position.
.
As I stated at ihe ccunty executive
committee meeting, if a ay o.ie will
? ? ^3^-r. /-,o+Vi o fthort/a nominal- anv
Ilia. KG U11UC1 uaui U. J
manager of election or voter o? Newberry
county, alleging fraud 0/ irrcg'5*
uiarities, his affidavit will be r-eperlV
considered, and the charge wiil h?
CENSUS DEPARTMENT
CITES SOME FIGURES
\
??
165,769 WHITE MALES OF VOTING >
AGE Df STATE IK 1910.
Figures on South Carolina as Prepared
by ?. Dana Durand, Director
of Census.
/
To the Editor of The State:
Enclosed find letter from E. Dana
Durand, director of the bureau of the
census, Washington, D. C., which I
would appreciate if you would* publish
on front or editorial page if con
I
venient.
I would be glad for you to comment
on same and show that the total
number of white males 21 years of
age and over for 1912 would be in- v /
creased proportionately and would be
about 174,700. '
W. Murchison.
Dillon, September 13.
%
Washington, September 10," 1912.
Mr. W. Murchison, Dillon, S. C.
Dear Sir: I have to acknowledge
the receipt of your letter of September
1, and, in response thfereto, I take
pleasure in giving you below the total
| number of white males 21 years of
age and over in South Carolina, as
returned at the censuses of 1890, 1900
and 1910, you will note that these
figures include the foreign-born white ,
males who may, or may not, be voters, y ?
but as their numbers are small, it
would not materially ^affect the total.
Total white males ?l years of age
and over in South Carolina:
Census. Number.
1910 i . .165,769
1900 ' '... 130,375
1890.. ...102,657
Very respectfully,
E. Dana Durand,
Director.
thoroughly investigated. This has
not been done.
The boxes with the ballots, poll
lists, etc., are under lock and key, in
a vault, where they are held under the
order of the committee, John Gary
Evans, State chairman, in accordance
with his first telegram, ordering same
to be done.
' While personally I am not opposing
any investigation, .no sub-committee
will be appointed or any investigation
ordered in this county, and I do not
concede that you have any right to
mA trt make finch investigation, in
the absence of any specific charges.
You and I both obtain our autho&ty
and our commissions as officials in
the Democratic party from the same
source, to wit, the county conventions
of the Democracy in the counties in
which we respectively reside, ana i ao
not conceive or concede, officially or
otherwise, that you as a committee
have any right to consider any matters
or have any control over any matters
before the county executive committee,
except such as might properly
come before you on appeal from the
action of the county Democratic executive
committee, as provided in the
constitution and rules of/the Demonorfr
Vnnra vprv trnlv:
V/l aciv JJUrl JL VW* w * v-y y
Fred. H. Dominick,
County Chairman Newberry County.
Notice Prosperity Circuit.
The fourth quarterly conference of
this charge will lje held Saturday,
September 21, at Zion church. Preaching
by presiding elder, Rev. W. P.
Meadows, Saturday at 11 o'clock and
Sunday at 11 o'clock. This is the last
official meeting of the year and a
full attendance of the members is
urged.
<t
On account of this conflicting with
regular appointments at New Hope
and. Mt. Pleasant, there will be no Aer
vices at these churches on fourth bunday,
but deferred until the fifth Sunday,
preaching at New Hope 11 a. m.,
and Mt. Pleasant 4 p. m., 29th inst
Let everybody remember the orphanage
work day, 28th inst*, and make
a contribution to this worthy cause.
e n
O. V>. I iO.
Prosperity, S. C., Sept. 16, 1912.
Mrs. Mary J. Miller and her son,
Walter, who have been visiting her
sister, Mrs. J. R. McCollum, and other
relatives in Newberry, left last
Tuesday for their home in Tacoma,